The ‘Worst Hit by Climate Change’ Contest

Blogger / aggregator Tom Nelson has a knack for connecting the dots in ways that highlight journalism at its silliest. Below is a cut-and-paste of one of his posts dated today. Titled Settled science: Everyplace to be hit by climate change harder than everyplace else, it made me laugh.

According to the stories Nelson links to Arctic communities, Africa, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Greenland, Guatemala, India, South-East Asia, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, and small island developing states (see the dropdown list on the right side of this page) are all contenders for the ‘Worst Hit by Climate Change’ grand prize. So, apparently, are the US states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Texas.

There would seem to be two significant takeaways here. One is that it apparently isn’t hard to find experts who’ll say anything. Few of us have the time to notice that their declarations contradict what the expert down the road said last week.

Moreover, many of us (especially journalists) find it difficult to resist personalizing big-picture stories like climate change. Apparently the issue isn’t compelling enough on its own – it needs to be linked to the self-interest of whomever the audience of the moment happens to be.

the Southeast states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee,Virginia, and the Gulf Coast of Texas – may be some of the hardest hit by climate change in the US.